As Gov. Matt Bevin tries to explain his reasons for Right To Work, many union supporters
shout him down in a hallway after Bevin spoke to a committee to pass Right To Work legislation Wednesday.
Matt Stone, The C-J

The back of the fire house under construction in Indian Hill. A proposal in Ohio's Legislature would allow localities to vote not to pay prevailing wage on construction projects such as this one.(Photo: Jeanne Houck/The Community Press)Buy Photo

COLUMBUS - Ohio's cities, townships and counties could decide to pay construction workers less than the state-mandated prevailing wage under a new GOP proposal – one that a union leader says abandons the blue-collar mandate from the election of President Donald Trump.

Under the bill, set to be introduced next week by state Sen. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, governing bodies of localities would have the option to vote to scrap the commitment to pay the mandated prevailing wage on their taxpayer-paid construction projects, such as new courthouses. That could allow them to cut labor costs, saving money for local governments hit by years of cuts in tax revenue shared by the state, Huffman told The Enquirer. Market forces would take hold, like they do in nongovernment projects, he said.

"We build public buildings for the public, not for the builders of the buildings, and that's how we should determine the costs – by the market," Huffman said.

The effort would be likely to cut the wages of the construction workers. Without the state's prevailing wage law, workers would see an average 16 percent cut in their paychecks, according to Matt Szollosi, executive director of Affiliated Construction Trades Ohio, which advocates for Ohio's 125,000 unionized construction workers. More construction workers would qualify for public assistance, he said. More companies would use low-cost laborers, perhaps those who are in the U.S. illegally, he warned, and plumbers and electricians would be less able to pay to train apprentices.

Prevailing wage, which includes hourly rates, benefits and overtime rates, is set by the state, but varies by county and by job title. In Hamilton County, for instance, a plumber earns $30.81 per hour in base wages, while an elevator mechanic earns $41.26.

Changing prevailing wage law is only one step of what some Republicans want to do in Ohio. Proponents of right-to-work laws say Ohio is nearly surrounded by such states, now that Kentucky has joined Indiana and Michigan in outlawing workplace rules or contracts that require all employees to pay union dues.

.@BeckerGOP has introduced a public sector right-to-work bill (related to what Ohio had w/ SB5, which was overturned by referendum in 2011)

Other Republicans, including Gov. John Kasich, say Ohio has a good relationship with unions, so it doesn't need right to work. Companies give more weight to the availability of trained workers and their access to good transportation than they do to right-to-work laws, some argue.

Huffman says he's not concerned about whether Republicans should pursue right to work. He's just trying to save money for small towns and counties in his western Ohio district, he says.

"The fact that Kentucky passed right to work is inconsequential," Huffman said.

For conservative state Rep. Tom Brinkman, R-Mount Lookout, Huffman's bill is a worthwhile start, but doesn't go far enough. He worries that Democratic-controlled city councils, such as in Cincinnati, would never vote for the change.

But is this step easier than right to work? "You would think, but it's been hard," Brinkman said. Ohio's prevailing wage law has been in place since 1931 for all projects except for schools, which were exempted from the requirement in 2001.

It's unclear how much support Huffman's effort has in the GOP-controlled Ohio Senate. Many Republicans in Ohio, especially from pro-union northern counties, have been cautious to push right-to-work bills, in part because of the resounding overturn in 2011 of a law limiting collective bargaining rights of state employees.

Huffman doesn't view his effort as an attack on unions or workers. For starters, the bill doesn't eliminate prevailing wage altogether. It lets each government make its own choice.

In areas where market wages are as high as prevailing wage, Huffman said, workers won't see a pay cut. In other areas, such as small towns and sparsely populated counties, workers would earn the market rate. Prevailing wage, Szollosi countered, already is adjusted by county to account for varying market rates and costs of living.

Huffman disputes the notion that a locality's decision to drop prevailing wage would cause a big pay cut for local workers. Most workers, he said, are already earning market rate in the nongovernment construction projects they do.

The proposal would affect both union workers and non-union workers on a construction job, he said, so it isn't an attack on unions. Many union workers have jobs in sectors other than construction. They may welcome a proposal, Huffman said, that could lower their taxes or maximize the value their government is getting for taxpayer money.